Declaration of Independence 2.0

A patriotic and prescient reader, Doug W forwarded me the below timely piece that he wrote as a student at 22 (the same age as me) in 1985, and recently revised:

Declaration of Independence – 2.0

Monday, June 14th, 2010

When in the Course of Human Events, it becomes necessary for Individuals to Reorganize the Political Bonds which have connected them with their national government and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and Superior Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Revitalization.

We hold these Truths to be Self-Evident, that All People are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty of the Spirit & Mind, Ownership of One’s Own Productive Efforts, Freedom from Intrusive governments, Economic Freedom of Choice, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these Rights, governments are instituted among Individuals, deriving their Just Powers from the True & Informed Consent of the Governed, that whenever ANY form of government becomes DESTRUCTIVE to these Ends, it is the Right of the People to Alter or to Abolish it, and to institute New Government, laying its Foundations on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem MOST likely to effect their Individual Liberty, Economic Freedom & Security, Physical Safety and Spiritual Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for Light and Transient causes; and accordingly all Experience has shown, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, While Evils (like government encroachment into the private affairs of individuals & businesses and embarrassingly poor government administrative, operational and financial performance) are sufferable, than to Right themselves by Abolishing the forms of government to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of Government Abuses of Power, Usurpations of Individual FREEDOMS, Increasing Financial Extractions, Regulatory Suffocation, and Bureaucratic Ineffectiveness, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under Absolute Economic, Social, and thus Political DESPOTISM, It is their RIGHT, it is their DUTY to thoughtfully identify select and install truly Honorable Classically Liberal guards for Their Future Economic, Individual (and thus Societal) Security, and Ecosystem Preservation.

Such has been the patient Sufferance of the People of the United States; and such is now the necessity which constrains us to Restore Our Former Systems of Government. The History of Congresses & Presidents – 1933 to the Present – is a History of repeated Federal Government Expansions, Excesses and Ineptitudes, all having in Direct Result the establishment of Oppressive Economic Control over the People of the United States. To Prove this, let FACTS be submitted to a candid WORLD.

MEMBERS of CONGRESS and PRESIDENTS (1933 to the Present):

-Have, with the best of intentions (and sometimes without), continually tried to Artificially manipulate the Economy of the United States. This manipulation – designed for the purposes of bringing about improved living standards, greater societal cohesiveness, and Domestic Tranquility – Resulted in: an unjustifiably High Level of Taxation, a Schizophrenically Paradoxical and Complicated Tax Code, Astronomically High Levels of Bankruptcy Threatening Government Debt, Increased Risk of Government Debt Monetization Induced INFLATION, Increasing Levels of Government Intrusion into the Lives of Our Citizens, Greater Amounts of Suspicion, Antagonism and resentment between members of different Socio-Economic Groups, and – MOST IMPORTANTLY – a Stagnation of Our Natural Socio-Economic Interaction. All this has been done by Federal Officials who have no stated or inferred CONSTITUTIONAL Authority to operate the Federal Government in such a fashion and who lack sufficient understanding of THE ECONOMIC LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE. These Financial & Economic WEAKNESSES have left Our Union exposed to all the Dangers of Hollow Propagandistic Slogans and Economic, Psychological and Societal Convulsions.

-They have created a situation which has subjected Us to a form of government alien to: the Ideals, Intentions, and Goals that formed Our DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; fueled the Fires of Our AMERICAN REVOLUTION, and are the very Essence of Our Nation’s Birth;

-They have diluted the strength & meaning of Our CONSTITUTION by passing thousands of obscure and complicated pieces of legislation; thus effectively abolishing Our Most Valuable LAWS, and altering fundamentally the form of Our Government from the WISE Designs of the Original Architects of the Government of the United States;

-They have unjustly declared themselves invested with the Power to legislate for Us in All cases whatsoever. Congress with its Inglorious Plethora of committees and sub-committees AND the Executive Branch with its unchecked executive orders, innumerable departments, agencies, commissions, councils, services and offices, work together to actively “HELP” the People of the United States Live THEIR LIVES; the result of this Ungodly collaboration has been an unprecedented proliferation of laws, regulations, and taxes, which have combined to make it Mathematically Certain that even the most Honest Individuals, businesses and local governments amongst Us will break a good number of Federal Dictates;

-They have created a Multitude of new government agencies, commissions and departments and sent hither swarms of faceless distant bureaucrats to Harass Us and TAX OUT OUR SUBSTANCE. Our alleged representatives have told Us that We must make do with Less Money because they WANT – without genuinely attempting to adapt the government to less revenue – MORE OF OUR MONEY; We are expected to accept – in a Slave-like Fashion – the unspoken fact that WE THE PEOPLE of the United States serve one purpose relative to the Federal Government – TO PAY, Unquestioningly and Involuntarily, for the Services Provide to, the Aggravation Inflicted on, and the Economic Instability Forced upon Us by the Federal Government;

-They have – by using Socio-Economically Divisive Rhetoric, Simplistic and Vague Campaign Slogans and Speeches, Confusing & Equally Meaningless Statistics and by placing party politics and political gamesmanship ABOVE Our Nation’s True Current and Future Needs – incited the development of Factional Divisiveness with Our Society;

-They have created Oceans of DEBT which threaten to Drown the Happiness of Future Generations of Americans and with this DEBT, they have backed themselves into a Financial and Political corner – from which the only logical long-term escape -given their past Taxing, Financial, & Operational Performance Record- will be Higher Tax Extractions & Inflationary Debt Monetization. This monetization will bring forth a Tidal Wave of Inflation; and this Inflation will result in an Unrestrained Destruction of our Wealth and paralyzing distortions of economic activity. Paper Money will – as it has in Our PAST – “Pollute the Equity of Our Laws, Turn them into Engines of Oppression, Corrupt the JUSTICE of Our Public Administration, Destroy the Fortunes of the Millions who have Confidence in it, Enervate the Trade, Husbandry, and Manufacturers of Our Country, and Will Go Far to DESTROY the MORALITY of OUR PEOPLE;”

-And they have – in general – behaved in a manner totally Unworthy of Solemnly Sworn Stewards of a GREAT & FREE ECONOMIC POWER.

This Documentable pattern of Knowingly & Wantonly Shattering the American Dreams of Individual Economic Self Determination and National Prosperity, for reasons of personal political ambition, financial greed, foolishness, and/or weakness of will power, CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED. And for their parts in this Historically Criminal Act, Members of Congress and Presidents – whether active participants or passive acquiescers – WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN by the People of the United States or by the Posterity of the World.

In every stage of these increasing Economic & Regulatory Oppressions, we have PETITIONED FOR REDRESS in the most humble terms; Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury and Restrictions. A Federal Government, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is Unfit to Protect and Govern a FREE PEOPLE.

We, the Citizens of the United States of America, Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of Our Intentions, wish to peacefully restore the Limited, Focused and Just scope of the federal government and reestablish national solvency. We further request our state and local representatives to assist us with the realignment the Federal Government of the UNITED STATES in accordance with the Precepts contained within Our Original DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, Preamble Objectives & Laws contained within Our Original CONSTITUTION, and Principles of Sound FINANCIAL and OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT. Thus Establishing Financial, Economic, and Environmental Conditions conducive to allowing our Citizens to Achieve the Lives they dream of based on their own inspiration, abilities, and determination. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Devine Providence, We mutually pledge to each other Out Time, Abilities, Full Effort, and Our Sacred Honor.

This is a revised version of part of a college economics paper on the socially disruptive dangers of a central Government-Gone-Wild in a distant potential future (which seems to be Our Present) America. I wrote this on the night of September 16th, 1985 as a way of venting my frustration with the fact that the U.S. Senate was raising the Federal Debt Limit to $2 TRILLION ($2,000,000,000,000.00). At the ripe old age of 22, I thought this event was a disaster (joke was on me). I haven’t read this in almost 20 years. Given our current economic and political situation, I think its content holds up pretty well. I hope you enjoyed it. By the way, the Federal Debt Limit is being RAISED to $14.3 TRILLION ($14,300,000,000,000.00); That’s $47666.67 for Each American, all 300,000,000 of us. Plus we as a Nation have a ZERO PERCENT SAVINGS RATE and We (America) are borrowing 1.5 TRILLION a Year ($1,500,000,000,000.00 Per Year or $4,109,589,000.00 per day or $171,232,000.000 Per Hour or $2,853,881.30 Per Minute) From CHINA, O.P.E.C. Countries, RUSSIA, and everyone else we can hit up to finance our spending binge. PLUS, the U.S. Government has “OFF-BUDGET / IMPLICIT LIABILITIES of $54.3 TRILLION ($54,300,000,000,000.00) see GAO-08-241CG – that’s another $174,450.98 Per Person. NOW, Add that to your credit cards, car loans and mortgages and do you really think we’ll ever see a Social Security check that’s actually worth anything?

This document is (was) designed to be a late-20th Century reflection of the precepts contained within the original UNITED STATES DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. It is intended to provoke constructive thought among members of the general population, the academic community, the business community, the U.S. Congress, the Judicial Branch and the Executive Branch. It IS NOT meant to be considered a policy statement of ANY individual or group(s) of individuals.

All I might add to Doug’s piece are that the tensions spoken to are as old as the Republic itself, starting with the debate between Jefferson and Hamilton on the size, scope and purpose of government. Moreover, it touches on the age-old battle between the state and sovereign man. The first major expansion of US governmental power in my view was not in 1933 but during Lincoln’s Presidency.

In addition, blame must be laid at the feet of the citizenry as well. We have condoned government tyranny for any number of reasons. We have elected these representatives, and most importantly allowed socialist ideas to defeat capitalist, individualist and moral ones. The politicians reflect the people, and while I would not want to besmirch our people, we are all at fault for where we stand today. True, man is flawed, and ultimately his institutions will reflect this fact, but the loss of a once great nation largely over the last century was no fait accompli.

Mellon hits the nail on its head when asking “if there is no objective truth, then how can the statement that there is no objective truth be true?” That disposes of moral relativism in theory, while its application that “all cultures are equal” is similarly dispelled as it claims that “our culture is worse than others.”
Yet revealing that the outlook is untenable raises the question of why the relativists hold to it. There is the immediate goal of supporting a left political agenda. But there is a deeper aim of avoiding the responsibility of facing the truth (thereby avoiding justice, which can be defined as ‘truth-in-action’). Consequently, what poses as an intellectual position is merely a means of evading responsibility.

Your friend didn’t have to substitute “people” and “individuals” for “men.” Anyone who would get ticked at us for sticking to proper grammar is probably already irredeemably on the progressives side, anyway.